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Thursday, August 28th, 2008

TOM WAITS' "GLITTER AND DOOM" TOUR A TRIUMPH IN EUROPE AND US

TOM WAITS finished his electrifying "Glitter and Doom" tour several weeks ago with three sold-out nights in Dublin. Other stops in Europe included Edinburgh, Paris, Prague, Milan, Barcelona and San Sebastian. The European tour was as celebrated as the shows in the US, with unanimous acclaim worldwide:

UK:

The Guardian/Alexis Petridis: "Waits is an utterly magnetic performer...it seems less like you've bought a ticket to a concert than to a different world."

The Independent/David Pollock: "★★★★★"

The Times/David Sinclair: "Waits wove a spell as intricate and engaging as that of any performer I can remember seeing on a musical stage."

The Daily Telegraph/Andrew Perry: "...you were in no doubt that you had just witnessed the greatest entertainer on Planet Earth."

The Daily Telegraph/Neil McCormick: "For a couple of hours every night on the Glitter and Doom tour, with Waits as lightning conductor, whipping up the band, stirring up his demons and roaring up a storm, he puts on what is, quite simply, the greatest show on earth.

La Repubblica: "'Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon' is wild and brutal, 'November' is the quintessence of all the autumns in this world. 'Innocent When You Dream' is marvelous and so sweet. Who wouldn't want a serenade like this?"

QN (Quotidiano Nazionale): "Enlightening, powerful, moving."

Il Secolo XIX: "The concert is almost like finding a light that will guide you to salvation."

FRANCE:

Le Monde: "Tom Waits leads a show that raises a panorama of his explorations and musical obsession since his beginning in the 70's."

Le Parisien: "Tom Waits has put a spell on the Le Grand Rex...8 years after the last Paris show of the legendary Californian singer/songwriter; he was welcomed by a standing ovation..."

SPAIN:

El Mundo: The national premier of the mature and angular blues and jazz master, of the experimental narrator, of the restless patriarch of the creative library, will be recorded in the annals of history for many more reasons than just for being the first time in Spain."

Diario Vasco: "Personal, sometimes brushing against pure genius in his parodies and in his viral ironies...The wait in time and the strict organization requirements to avoid the reselling (of tickets) were vindicated with a spectacle so captivating that could not disappoint."

El Pais: Two hours of music, poetry, mime, vaudeville, contortionism, whispers, roars, love, surprise, always surprise, always, yesterday--during two long but so very shorty hours--the sweet and scarce dictatorship of the unexpected."

US:

Los Angeles Times/Ann Powers: "Waits is underrated as a vocalist. His baritone is easy to caricature, but a lengthy concert like this one offers a chance to hear what else he can do. He often capped a song with an eerie falsetto; on a couple of songs...he adopted the hiccupping style of early Elvis Presley...And he was frankly emotional on the ballads that demand that approach..."

Wall Street Journal/Jim Fusilli: "...it was an unforgettable experience...The dark humor of Mr. Waits' work can disguise its beauty and compassion. But throughout this performance, there were transcendent moments when the song and its expression permitted a profound understanding of what he was communicating. That's what makes a concert by a gifted songwriter extraordinary."

VanityFair.com/Michelle Ciarrocca and Leonardo DiSanto: "And he lived up to every inch of his reputation as a dynamic and theatrical performer. There is a certain grace in Tom's weird angular gyrations and Frankenstein's-monster posturing. 'I didn't expect him to be so sexy,' said one fan. Indeed, what could be sexier than the man standing, arms outstretched, beneath a shower of glitter?"

Phoenix New Times/Paul Rubin: "Waits did the near impossible and lived up to the great expectations..."

Associated Press/Sandy Cohen: "Tom Waits returns to the road with searing two-hour set...packing more than two dozen tunes into a set that was sure to satisfy any fans that made trip."

Dallas Morning News/Thor Christensen: "In the 20-odd years since Tom Waits last played Dallas, his music has grown more demented and, at the same time, more poignant."

Ft. Worth Star Telegram/Preston Jones: "That unmistakable national treasure of a voice gave the troubadour the air of a carnival barker."

Knoxville News Sentinel/Wayne Bledsoe: "Waits' voice is actually more complex than most would give him credit for. His most marked asset is an almost feral growl...Yet, Waits can also sing in a high, almost fragile, voice as well and croon with the rough beauty inspired by Louis Armstrong."

Blender.com/Mike Errico: "Tom Waits has traveled to the source of the American songbook and returned with an alternate theory of its evolution. The ingredients are recognizable in flashes--Vaudeville, bebop, spoken word, Brill Building, funk, hip-hop--but the connections he makes between them are utterly unique...he connected the dots for a rapt and grateful audience."

Birmingham News/Mary Coluso: "Tom Waits keeps 'em spellbound at Alabama Theatre. Although the concert lasted more than two hours, Waits kept listeners on the edges of their seats, wondering what he'd so next. No sluggish spots, no dead ends, just an immaculately paced, consistently exciting meld of music and theater."

El Paso Times/Doug Pullen: "Friday's...show at the Plaza Theatre...probably was unlike anything ever seen in the historic, atmospheric movie palace, before and after its 2006 restoration....playing out like some twisted journey through a house of broken mirrors...Friday's concert was part performance art, part roadhouse blues revival, all good."

RollingStone.com/Bret Gladstone: "Waits ultimately spent the night demonstrating that he's one of the last remaining character actors in American music: a self proclaimed 'moonlighting' thespian who's always known that music is another kind of theatre--a very particular storytelling practice--and that it's all in the delivery."

The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)/Devin Grant: "It was definitely worth a drive to Atlanta. Heck, I would have sailed to Singapore for a show that good. Well done, Tom."